Okay - your opinions please!
Having gone for a more expensive car than I would have normally, for the sake of a modern efficient high mpg diesel engine - only to have electronic problems needing dealer attention.
Interested in your opinion of pre-electronic wizardry diesels. Also whether worth going to a tax exempt classic and putting in a modern diesel to avoid paying the government any more money either!
|
what exactly is the more expensive car that you would have normally spent would help?
|
|
Its unfortunate you've had problems with a new car, thats just unlucky, but is it not possible that more problems could be had with a classic?
|
|
True, true - but at least I would be able to have a go and fix any problems (eventually) rather than running off to the dealer for diagnostic tests after having taken out the battery to top up powersteering, only to find on re-connection that the dashboard is lit up like a christmas tree and the car beeping incessantly when driven - ahhhh! Actually it's amazing what you get used to....
|
|
|
|
|
Well I would normally have spent under £1k, but in this case splashed the cash and spent under £2k on an '01 Skoda Fabia 1.9TDi
|
Id be tempted by a Pug 205 diesel as I hear they can do huge miles if looked after and are relatively simple. Dont seem to rust badly either.
Im sort of thinking of buying an old car to fiddle with maybe next summer and Im thinking of an old-school diesel although I fancy a Pug 504 diesel if one still exists!
|
|
Was a big fan of pug diesels at one time, especially the 205s, but had successive problems with build quality of 405s - and the French do seem to love to pop things in awkward places!
|
|
Well I hear that the MK2 Cavalier diesel is about as easy to work on as they get. I had a petrol one and even cambelt change was well under £100 at a garage so easy is access and without electric anything, very little to go wrong.
|
|
|
>Big fan of pug diesels at one time, especially the 205 ..
Economic, yes; reliable, probably; easy to work on, well, most of the time. Simple, yes; but there's so little space to swing a spanner. SWMBO had a 205 Dturbo for 8 years, but after ~80K little things began to fail. Clutch cable broke, and the RAC-man did a roadside repair which lasted for months. Permanent renewal of the cable was almost impossible and probably would have meant the turbo coming off. Great little car though.
Edited by Andrew-T on 16/01/2009 at 23:11
|
|
|
|
|
Sounds to me WW like you'd like to get a diesel with no electronics, and the last one i can think of would be the Volvo 940 with the VW LT van 6 pot engine.
I had one an estate, my sister still runs it, its 93 and its virtually rust free and just keeps plodding along surprisingly quickly, as simple and reliable a car as ever there was and it still does about 35 to 40mpg, often wish we'd kept it.
Maybe Mondeo 1 with the 1.8td?
Edited by gordonbennet on 16/01/2009 at 22:06
|
Anything with a Citroen 1.9TD engine... one of the last of the truly home maintainable diesel engines.
Having said that a 2001 Fabia TDi is not over complex by most standards.
Putting a middle age diesel in an old classic will make an unreliable rubbish car.
David
|
|
Even in a landy? Putting something in a series 2/3? Although could be less weighty for everyday use purposes....
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oi thaank whaat you nayyd uz a trracterrr. In red.
tinyurl.com/7wfmee
Easy to maintain AND cool.
|
|
Funnily enough I had one of those Internationals (B250?) about 8yrs ago. 1958 and on its original clutch, engine, injector pump etc.
Edited by M.M on 16/01/2009 at 22:43
|
The tractor is a International B275, my dad had one.
I've got it's replacement, a B414, it's a 1962 model which is used most days to feed the aminals.
A very simple machine compared to my common rail, electric hydraulic, all singing and dancing John Deere.
|
|
|
|
|
That's the avenue my mate has gone down! Well a 1940s diesel truck anyway.....
|
|
|
|
That is a beauty though!
|
Do tractors qualify as economical? I wanted one already but I want one even more now! (I have a small piece of land and a bad back...). Then I live out in the sticks in Croatia and it's not unusual to see one parked outside the supermarket.
|
>>Do tractors qualify as economical?
I must confess I have no idea about tractors apart from the fact that I love them all, like children. Mini grass-cutting ones, old ones, new ones - it doesn't matter just so long as it's red. Tractors should be red.
One thing, though my suggestion is entirely sincere, if you need to wear a suit to work then you might be better off with something less farm-based. In fact, this is where mini tractors come into their own as a Personal Transportation Solution. Though not very fast, they're small, agile and £1k new. A small but useful subsidy could be wangled from the council if you drive deliberately on grass verges with cutters in motion.
|
>>>it doesn't matter just so long as it's red. Tractors should be red.
Green with yellow wheels is the new red!
David
|
|
Or a rather sludgy brown with brown sludgy wheels (at least the ones I saw today)
|
|
|
Back on the topic,
dashboard is lit up like a christmas tree and the car beeping incessantly when driven
My '01 Octavia 1.9SDi would sometimes do this, but the warning lights and beeps would self-cancel after 10 engine starts without the relevant fault being flagged up. So after tripping all the warnings I would sit there and start the engine 10 times in succession. On the 11th go, no warnings and everything was fine until the next time...
This did leave the error codes in the fault memory for the dealer at the next service, but at least I didn't have lots of red and yellow lights showing in the meantime.
Dave TD.
|
|
|
|
|
|
